Gadgets

Match Group, the company behind Tinder, will soon launch a lightweight version of the dating app to emerging markets where access to data is limited.

Plans for Tinder Lite were first announced in Match Group’s earnings call with investors, when CEO Mandy Ginsberg said that the app was “coming soon” without revealing a more specific release date, as reported by TechCrunch.

Ginsberg was discussing the growth potential of Tinder in Southeast Asia when she mentioned Tinder Lite, as internet penetration has increased by almost 15% in the region over the past five years.

“This area has more than a dozen high-density cities with over a million people, and more young people are moving to large cities. These are really important factors that make the need for our app high,” Ginsberg said. “We are excited about the Tinder Lite app that will be coming soon. It’s a big step forward addressing the needs of consumers there.”

According to Ginsberg, Tinder Lite will take up less space in smartphones compared to Tinder. It is expected to drop some features of the main app and focus on the core feature of swipes and matches, but what exactly will be included and not included in Tinder Lite was not yet divulged.

Tinder is still growing steadily, with its paid subscribers up by 38% in early 2019 compared to the same period last year. However, in the interest of maintaining this growth, Match Group believes that it is time to launch a Tinder Lite app.

Tinder Lite will grant access to millions of people in emerging markets who own basic smartphones and have limited access to data. Even if only a fraction of these potential users sign up to the dating app, it represents a significant expansion to Tinder’s user base.

Tinder remains one of the best dating apps, but it is facing increasing competition from rivals and even Facebook, which launched its own dating service last year. In this year’s F8 conference, Facebook Dating added a new feature called Secret Crush that allows people to tell their friends who they have a crush on. The service has not yet launched in the U.S., but it will challenge Tinder once it does.